In 1883 a baleen whale stranded at ‘baie de Bassora’ (Basrah Bay), in the Chat-el-Arab river delta, Iraq, at the northwestern corner of the Persian/Arabian Gulf. Gervais obtained the complete specimen for the national museum in Paris (MNHN), and described it as a new humpback whale species Megaptera indica H.-P. Gervais, 1883. The authors studied the incomplete and slightly damaged holotype skull, measured and estimated craniometrics, and concluded that M. indica is a junior synonym of Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781). No postcranial bones were found. Importantly, two cranial features suggest that M. indica nests between Atlantic humpback whales and other large Balaenopteridae. Megaptera novaeangliae has the widest skull index, i.e. breadth skull at squamosals relative to condylobasal length (57–66.9%, n=8), higher than M. indica which scored 54.9%, and considerably higher than other Balaenopteridae. Also the ratio of the width of skull at postorbitals (frontale) versus rostrum width at base in M. indica is smaller and barely overlaps with Atlantic humpback whales (n=4), again suggesting taxonomic significance. Gervais also reported several postcranial differences, presently unverifiably. Cranial findings support subspecific status, Megaptera novaeangliae indica (H.-P. Gervais, 1883), proposed also by Amaral et al. (submitted) for the Arabian Sea (cum Persian/Arabian Gulf) humpback whale population, based on mtDNA control region analysis.The reported pachyostosis in the Iraqi whale is suggested a possible example of phenotypic plasticity, an adaptation to the unusually high-salinity, high-density habitat of the Gulf, as to reduce buoyancy and avoid insolation.

A bstract: The phylogeny and systematics of fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae) have long been studied with diverse data types, including an increasing amount of molecular data. However, only a few phylogenetic relationships have reached acceptance because of strong gene-tree species tree discordance. Divergence times estimates in the group also vary largely between studies. These uncertainties impeded the understanding of the biogeographical history of the group, such as when and how trans-equatorial dispersal and subsequent speciation events occurred. Here we used high-coverage genome-wide sequencing for 14 of the 15 species of Otariidae to elucidate the phylogeny of the family and its bearing on the taxonomy and biogeographical history. Despite extreme topological discordance among gene trees, we found a fully supported species tree that agrees with the few well-accepted relationships and establishes monophyly of the genus Arctocephalus . Our data support a relatively recent trans-hemispheric dispersal at the base of a southern clade, which rapidly diversified into six major lineages between 3 to 2.5 Ma. Otaria diverged first, followed by Phocarctos and then four major lineages within Arctocephalus . However, we found Zalophus to be non-monophyletic, with California (Z. californianus) and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) grouping closer than the Galapagos sea lion ( Z. wollebaeki) with evidence for introgression between the two genera. Overall, the high degree of genealogical discordance was best explained by incomplete lineage sorting resulting from quasi-simultaneous speciation within the southern clade with introgresssion playing a subordinate role in explaining the incongruence among and within prior phylogenetic studies of the family.